How the Exchange-Tesco programme can support your livestock business

Across the UK, beef and sheep farmers are running incredibly complex businesses in the face of rising costs, volatile weather, tight margins and growing demands from government and retailers. At Soil Association Exchange, many of us come from farming backgrounds ourselves so we know what it takes to keep livestock healthy, land productive and businesses afloat. Our role is to back you, and help create a more resilient UK farming industry.

As more farmers look to register for the Tesco × Soil Association Exchange programme, some have raised understandable questions about how their data will be used — particularly around enteric emissions. We hope this blog might provide clarity as to the why we are running this programme, and how it can support you.

Your data belongs to you:

At the heart of Exchange is a principle that will never change: your data belongs to you. It is only ever shared with third parties where you explicitly give permission and Tesco will only ever see the data in aggregate, not at an individual farm level. We’re accredited under the Farm Data Principles scheme to ensure fairness, transparency and farmer control.

Why data can help the livestock industry:

Whatever system you run, from extensive grazing to more housed setups, the reality is that UK livestock farmers already deliver huge benefits that deserve proper recognition. Permanent pasture stores carbon. Grazing supports biodiversity and protects landscapes. Livestock farming sustains rural communities and produces high-quality, nutrient-dense food. Livestock farmers achieve exceptional productivity through careful breeding, nutrition, health planning and attention to detail.

This story rarely makes the headlines, and the conversation around livestock often focuses on one narrow metric. Good data can help change that. It allows the industry to tell the whole story — not just about emissions, but about soils, biodiversity, animal welfare, community value and productivity — in a way that is fair, accurate and grounded in what you actually do every day.

This programme is also about building a more resilient food system at a time when resilience has never been more important. The last few years have shown how vulnerable global supply chains can be. We need UK farming businesses that are strong, profitable and confident. At Exchange we believe that sustainable farming is simply good business. Sustainability that results in reducing input costs, improving grassland function, strengthening feed efficiency, building healthy soils, and reducing the risks posed by extreme weather. These are the foundations of a business that can be passed on to the next generation. Our team is here to support that transition in ways that respect the realities of each individual farm.

Creating new opportunities:

This work also unlocks new opportunities. Farm incomes have been under pressure for years, and the wider supply chain needs to help create additional value. By building a trusted, unified dataset, we can reduce duplication, help farms access new revenue streams such as Exchange Market, and ensure that progress is recognised — not overlooked. Funding linked to environmental improvements is already benefiting many farms, and those opportunities grow when farms have strong evidence behind them.

The right data also strengthens the industry’s voice. Too often, policy debates are shaped by assumptions rather than reality. With robust data, we can clearly demonstrate the strengths the farming industry, the efficiency and innovation, the biodiversity value, the welfare outcomes farmers work hard to achieve, and the economic importance of farming to rural areas.

Above all, we want farmers to know that Exchange is here to create a resilient farming industry. Our job is to make environmental measurement simple and meaningful; to provide advice that respects the commercial pressures you face; to help unlock new funding; and to build long-term trust between farmers and retailers. We believe deeply in the role and importance of UK livestock farming, and we want to help ensure it remains strong, sustainable and profitable for the future.